An application for alterations to Tenby Sailing Club's premises licence has received the thumbs down from local councillors.

The application came before members of the town council at their meeting on Tuesday night, with Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain stating that she had concerns over changes to the operating hours that the club had applied for.

"I'd like to speak against the scope of this, as I've counted up the number of occasions listed that the club would like to stay open throughout the year until beyond 1 am - add to that all the unspecified weddings and it will come to well over 50," she told her colleagues.

Clr. Mrs. Putwain stated that a lot of noise emanated from the Sailing Club which disturbed properties opposite, and she had special concerns over the disturbance the late noise would cause to 'Harriet's House' which overlooks Tenby Harbour and was there to provide holiday accommodation for the needs of families with disabled children.

"At the end of the day, this is still a residential area," she continued. "We've already stated that the application for St. Catherine's Island at 11 pm, was late enough for them, so I'd say it should be late enough for the Sailing Club.

"The method of advertising this application was also unconventional, too, as it appeared in the Pembrokeshire Herald on May 1, under 'Tenby Sail Club' located at The Cabin, Castle Square! I thought it was some form of joke, and quite surprised to discover it was a genuine application from the Sailing Club!" added Clr. Mrs. Putwain.

The town clerk, Mr. Andrew Davies, told councillors that the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority had indicated that they too were concerned over certain aspects of the application, including the use of a marquee mentioned, as there was no reference to this on the plans.

He also said that the authority were concerned as there was no specific indication of how often weddings could occur.

"The National Park Authority also stated that there were potential noise issues for surrounding properties," commented Mr. Davies.

Clr. Lawrence Blackhall said that the matter brought the issue back to the town council's concerns over planning applications being too broad in general.

"Planning is for life, and I accept that licensed premises applications can be changed, but why is this happening and moving from a members club to open access?

"Should in theory this licence be approved, and let's say the Sailing Club was sold tomorrow, somebody else could use it for something entirely different, so we should guard against planning issues like this," said Clr. Blackhall, with the Mayor, Clr. Paul Rapi, agreeing, and stating that the town council should not support the application until it contained further detailed information.